Best available copr



I. BLAC KB URN.

STEERING AND CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMOBILES. Armcmou FILED uuq. 21. 1am.

1,435,692, mm Nov. 14,1922,

3 SHEETS-SHEET. l.

I. BLACKBURN.

STEERING AND CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMOBILES. APPLICATION FILED JAILZT, l9!!!- 1,435,692 Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

1. aucxsunu. smnms mu coumoums mecumsul ran AUTOMOBILES. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21, 1919. 1,435,692, Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

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; ili 9 Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

UNITED. STATES;-

1,435,692 BATENT OFFICE.

JASPER BELIZE-BURN, Q]? \GROVES, MISSOURL'LSSIGNOB T0 TEE BLACKBURN P A'Dm-BTEEBm'GWmL'OOm; DF-SIJDGUIS; msoomz, CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.-

srme m cement m o -evm mexwe e mimlflna' 27, 1918 s ns n eyeess.

To 41mm,

Be it known 1 t 1,..J1srergfipsogem, a oitizen of theUniteiStites andresident of Webster Groves, 'nt.. Lq11 is County Missouri have inren. certain new. and useful rovements 1n,- Steering lendflontrolling which. the. following is e specifier/t er. eoni ne-e l w lifeline? g'hmi 1th i.

ng 3 1? l Mr inven n.-

to new e useful improvements n .5 L nd-.0011- trolling meohiinism ioneutomob esiand has;

for its pr object the obnst'rhgfion'pi a steering whee proper. wherein a series of electric eontaotmeklngand Breakingdevices are located within the wheel rim and. are.

oonoeelecbend proteeted, likeyvise the electrical-conductors that are cerried'by-the rm are embedded within the rim end arecons cealed und protected, endmll flmeleetrical conduetors leedi fromthe contoetmnlring and breakingdevloes-are ooncealedand protected within the wheelgspolges-and the hub of the wheelnnd the column.

Another primary object of m invent on isthe em 10 ment ofeloek switch carr ed bythew e for the purposeofbreekmg and lockingthe ignition 011201111... 1

Another object is to interpose between the concluetors that lead 'out at the steering. column, a helical spring eonductoiysqthnt no twisting of the cond :1etors .-nroper xylll take place by the operatiomof thesteermg wheel. i

Inthe drawin Fig. 1 is e, si e elevation of'e steering wheel with parts inseotion; n the rotate g s e ringmlumn, th housing' qpm for the steerin column and, u side e ewpf. the spring con: nctors interposed in the en suite.

Fig. 2 is e .trpnsversegseetion at the. ring, a d el eg tud el-e m t zheyheelgp ke lu r ti g he lock for. the gm lo mmt in ositioniho. 1 fthheel smp an m q .ew. part ofthe QkGS-bflfllg 1n .seotmnqpdalso illustrating it e conductors leedmgd from,tl e Contact making and breelnnger oes in dotted lines. r 1 Fig. 4- is a seotionol viewof the lock switoh for the. ignition circuit.

eehanis n for. Automobiles; of.

Fig-,5 is an enlarged deteilseetion taken through the steering post and illustrating the spring conductor employed. f

F g. 6 is a, ifrsi, n-z1entf, a1 perspective View of-the top of-the rotntin steering column.

F .ueside i wo. ne o the g o r ig t swi h s 1 Fig. 8 is 'ofregmentaljseefional view of ofj he ignal-operat ng d r es- Fig. 9 is' a freimeptelseetionriew of a, portion of the w eel rim and end of the spoke, showing the manner of attaching the lii fw mt Wheel rim.

Fig. 10 is ediegrammaticel view showing the method in which the conductors are P ce n h m,

Fig-L 11 is a, cross-eeotional view through. the; wheel hlib, steering coliunn and the adapting sleeve, the adopting sleeve being emp, oyedior the purpose 'ofpositioning the wheel on tbe steering column regardless of the oositiqn oflthej ke'y carried by. the steerm post.

i T1g. 12is .m ,view of thesteering wheel illustrtt-in he c u ion oi the ignition and livht swito es. v

lieierring, to the drawings, 13 indicates the wheel rim which is provided on its underneath snrface. with e ehonnel l i in whieh the various contept making: and, breaking devices are located and the electrical conduetors lendin therefi'oln This channel is formed on t enndemeath surfaee of, the wheel rim by any suitable means after the wheel rim its-formed, being in the form of aoireular channel and being inmoss section preferably rectangular in form. Locetedin chennelis aprimery conductor 15 whichfileads to the source of electrical ener that is, the batterv or magneto. Also oeaited'inthischenne of the rim is the si 'nel meking and breaking devices 16, and the ignition switch 17 endthe light switoh 18n The conductors leading from the ignition switch, and light switch and the horn. contact making and'breaking devices e-l'enlllocated within this channel ancllmd from these devices through the hollow ipolges 19 2Q, 21 and 22 as illustrated in ig. 3; thehorn oonductor bein designated as 23, the battery or energy conductor being designated as 24, the light conductors25 end26 and theignition conductor 27. These various conductors pass through the spokes down througlrchenii'els 28 formed in the inserted within the rotating'steering coliu'nh- 80,.the lower ends are connected to a series i for the as; .thisconstruction be'in' of helicel conductors 31'madeofspr' inet'eriel,o11e end otthese conductors. m attached-toe sleeve, of in'sulation 32 whic surrounds endis Secured tothe -steering; 0st I illustrate in Fig. 5, whrein it will be 0 rved that one of theends of the helical conductors 3L=is securely moiinted on .a. be! of hisiilnting materinl 34; carried by the socket or support 35 eolumm' V From th fen s of the helical springs 311i seriesof conductors 3 fi 1eed,through .a cable 37 to the curious translating devices. Between'the helical 'qgringa 31 are discs of inauletin material 8. These discs me be forme integral with the insulating s eeve 32 or maybe made so arotely and slipped over said insulating ee've. These ring oonductoraiare protected by housing 9 socured to e rotating steering column sup- Port 35 by means of screws This housing 18 provided with an opening 4 1 for the steering post and with another oglemngeit for thecable 37. The steering e0 lunn'supgort 35 is secured to the instrument; board 4 by means of bolts 491. If desired however, this support me; beseoured to the floor, in which case the so at formed in the support/would necessorilf'have to be Ien honed -so es to giye sufliclent bearing to t a rotating steermc wheel column.

ne of the rimary objects of my inven tion is to loch the ignition circuit 27 by means of a lock switch carried preferabl be one of the s okes. By means of this 0c: switch, the igintion circuit is broken and closed, that is to say, it is locked in broken position so as to prevent the unauthorized use of the car. This lock switch for the ignition circuit is illustrated in Fi 2 and 4. and is, designated by the numera 45. This lock switch comprises a cnsm which is secured within the spoke 22 an mounted in this casing are two electrical terminals or contacts 46 and 47 to which are attached the ends of the conductor 27, that is to se the conductor 27 is out and the lock switch inter,- posed between the severed ends.

The terminal 46 has a spring end 48 formed thereon, thus forming o. sliding contact with the bolt -19 of the look. When the bolt 49 is thrown towards the contact or terminal =17, the electricconnection will be estublisbed throughout the wire 27 and the igevent, the lockin bolt 49, which answers as a "operated to open and close the ignition cirnition circuit unlocked. The housing of this look is preferablyconstructed of material which is u non-conductor so that there will be no danger of ashort circuit. In any conductor, must e insulated from the housin%and wheel.

y means 'of a. he -inserted through the key opening 50, the coking bolt 49 may be cuit, whereby the ignition circuit may be looked upon or broken to prevent the unenthorizcd nseof a car. Any desirable form of lock may be employed capable of performin the above function.

he rotating steering column 30 mounted within the support 35 is inserted partly within the hub 51 of the wheel and is secured thereto b means of s-rrews 52. The top portion of the hub 51 is providedwith a. series so of teeth 53 adapted to engiige irith teeth on the adapter 54. The adapter 54 is provided with key-ways 55 to receive the keys 56 carried by the steering post 33 and by means 'of this adapteg'tlie'steering wheel 13 may be adjusted so as to bring the contact making and breukin devices to the desired position regardless o? the position ott'he keys on the steering post.

Mounted on the to a of the steering post 33 is a. nut 57 for ho lc'ling the adapter and wheel hub in en ngemcnt.

The steering co umn 30 is rotntublgl mouut-' cd in the suport 35 and rotates simultaneously with t e steering post 38, that is to say. the rotation of the wheel 13 rotatcs'both the steering post andsteeriug column simultaneousl In order to conceal and protect the wires leading tin-on h the conductor channels formed in the heel hub, l'employ housing 58 which is secured to the ll oh by means of :1 screw 59. In Fig. 7 I have shown the ignilion switch and m Fig. 8 l have shown a nortion of the signul conumting devices.

l'ithin the groove 14, l locate =1 plumlity of electrical conductors which are in theform of a flat sheet of metal, this being illustrated in F1 10, wherein I have shown diagrannnaticn iv the several conductors together with the operating switches and their connections leading to the translating de- YIOES.

15 indicates the primary conductor which is directly connected to the battery conductor 24. Superimposed on the conductor 15 is a strip of insulating material 61 on which another conductor strip 62 is secured. The conductor 15 extends partially around the wheel or, in other words, does not make a complete circle. The conductor 62 is broken or formed in sections and these sections are COnIlBfitQ-(l together by a wire 63. The condnclorlii is bridged :icrossnit the puintwherc the ignition switch pas es through the rim,

by means of a conducting strip 64; and the end at the light switch is connected thereto b means of one contacting point 65 only.

The switches, both ignition and lighting are constructed as follows ;-I provide a member 66 composed of insulating material which is provided with a projecting lug 67. The bottom portion of this member is provided with a sheet of conducting material 68 which contacts or slides on the conducting strip 64:. The member 66 is slidably secured to a block 69 which is inserted in the rim and secured thereto by means of screws 70. The block 69 is provided with projections 71 and to this block I secure the bridging member 72 which is virtually a continuation of the strip or conducting member 15.

Secured to the projections or blocks 71 are spring contacts 73 which have their ends 74 bent so as to ride in grooves 75 formed in the member 66. The ends of the spring 7 3 are bent so as to overla the side of the projection 71 as indicatec by the numeral 76 and to these projections I connect the conductors leading to the translating devices, the conductor 27 being divided as shown in Big. 10 so that a complete circuit will. be formed, no matter in which position the switch is shifted other than neutral and to the projections 76 on the light switch the conductors 25 and 26 are connected so that when this switch is manipulated, the lights may be either dimmed or bri htened.

The method of securing t e rim to the spokes is shown in Figs. 2 and 9. Each spoke is provided with a pro'ection 78 leaving a tongue or lug 79 exten ing therefrom. This lug or ton ue is adapted to be seated or extend into the rim of the wheel. The method 01 securing the spokes or spider of the wheel to the rim as shown in Figs. 2 and 9 is as follows :a portion of the rim is cut away leaving a dove-tailed opening as indicated by the numeral 80, the number of these openin s corresponding to the number of spokes in the spider, and after the rim has been placed in position on the spider, the blocks 81 are inserted and secured to the rim by means of glue or screws, thus preventin the projection 79 from becoming detacher or, in other words, securing the rim and spokes together.

By the use of my electrical connections and method of constructing the same, it is possible to assemble all of these connections and then lace them within the channel formed in t e wheel, thus obviating the ne cessity of having the workingmen use the wheel while the main electrical connections are being made.

Havin fully described my invention what I c aim is:

1. In a steering wheel having circuit conductors located in its rim and one spoke, a lock switch located in said spoke for making and breaking the circuit through said eonductors.

2. In combination with a steering wheel having circuit conductors located in its rim and one spoke, an enlargement formed in one spoke, and a lock switch located in said enlargement for makin and breaking the cir unit through said conductors.

3. In combination with a steering wheel having circuit conductors located in its rim and one spoke, a key operated lock switch located in said spoke, whereby said switch can be locked in open and closed position.

4. I11 combination with a steering wheel having circuit conductors located in its rim and one spoke, an enlargement formed in said spoke, a key operated lock switch located in said enlargement, whereby said circuit can be locked when opened and closed.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JASPER BLACKBURN.

Witnesses:

Fmmoas Bnuoknumv. Enwano E. Lost-ran 

